Family Ties

Chapter 21

Tom and Annie had spent a perfect weekend together. They’d gone to Da Silvano for dinner on Friday night. They went shopping on Saturday, and Tom had done some repairs for her around the apartment. They cooked dinner on Saturday night and made love by candlelight afterward, and on Sunday afternoon, after reading The New York Times, they went to a movie.

They’d had brunch at the Mercer with Ted and celebrated his liberation from Pattie. He had turned in his papers, dropped her class, and didn’t mind getting an incomplete-all he wanted was to never see her again. When he took his withdrawal slip to his adviser’s office, Pattie had seen him in the hallway and said not a word. She had played all her cards and lost and knew it. He felt like a new man, and he had decided to get his own apartment. He was tired of roommates. All he wanted now was to get back to his studies. He felt free and alive again.

Ted commented at lunch that he’d been trying to reach Liz all weekend.

“She’s in London,” Annie said cryptically.

“What’s she doing there?”

“Meeting a friend,” Annie said with a mysterious smile. She and Alessandro had agreed to meet there for the weekend, and Annie had encouraged her to go.

“Have you heard anything from Kate?” Ted inquired.

“I got an e-mail from her. She sounds like she’s having fun. I guess I was wrong to be so worried,” Annie said, sounding relieved. Tom was happy about it too.

“So did I. She sent me an e-mail. But it was so short, it didn’t say much except hi, bye, and she loves me. When is she coming home?”

“In a few days,” Annie said, happy that it was going well for her. Whitney had been right. She needed to let them fly on their own. Ted had gotten out of his nightmarish situation with Pattie, Liz had gotten rid of Jean-Louis, and Kate seemed to be doing fine in Iran. All was well in their world.

“I still think she was wrong to go,” Ted said, sounding like a disapproving older brother. But he had never been as adventurous as Katie, even as a young boy.

“Maybe not,” Annie said generously. “If it goes well, it’s a great adventure for her. And she’ll feel very competent and able to take care of herself when she gets home.”

“Paul’s a great guy, but she doesn’t know him well enough to go so far away,” Ted commented, “and his culture is a whole other world.” Annie didn’t disagree, but she was happy that Kate seemed to be having fun. She and Tom went to the movies after that. She turned off her phone, and they cuddled and ate popcorn and enjoyed the movie, and then they went home. They were cooking dinner when she remembered to turn on her phone. It sprang to life instantly and told her she had a text message. It said that it was from Katie, and her heart nearly stopped when she read it, and she soundlessly handed it to Tom.

“What do I do?” she said with a look of panic. The fact that Katie was sick was bad enough, but she was refusing to leave Tehran without Paul, and he was stuck without either of his passports and couldn’t leave.

“It doesn’t sound good,” Tom said with a frown. “Why don’t you call Paul’s parents and see what they think? They know the circumstances and the family in Tehran better than we do. Maybe Paul’s uncle is just bluffing and trying to get him to stay.” Annie called them immediately, and was grateful to find his mother at home. She read Paul’s mother the text message from Katie and asked her what she thought. She was instantly as worried as Annie. Her husband was out, and she was candid with Annie.

“The family have wanted us to come back for years, and they think Paul should be there and not in the States. My brother-in-law is a very stubborn man. He could keep Paul there forever.” She started crying as she said it. “That’s why I didn’t want him to go. They won’t do him any harm. They love him and they think they’re doing the right thing for him. They’re trying to correct our ‘mistake’ of bringing him to the States. And I’m so sorry about Katie. I hope she’s all right. My sister-in-law is a very sweet woman, and I’m sure she got a doctor for Katie and took good care of her.”

“And now Kate is refusing to leave Tehran without Paul,” Annie explained. It was a mess, and a difficult situation to resolve. She promised to call Paul’s mother back, who said she would call the family in Tehran and try to get more information, and as soon as Annie hung up, she turned to Tom.

“How do I get to Tehran?” Annie looked at him with wide eyes. She had no idea where to start, but she knew he did.

“You need a visa, which takes a couple of weeks to get, or longer.” He looked pensive, then leaned down to kiss her. He felt sorry for her. Annie looked worried sick. “Let me see what I can do. I’ve got some friends in the State Department. Maybe one of them can help.” He spent the next three hours on the phone, calling different people, and two of them promised to see what they could arrange the next day. They had to get the visa at the Pakistani embassy, just as Kate had, but Tom had explained the situation to them. He said she was a young American girl who was sick in Tehran, and her Iranian traveling companion was without a passport and unable to leave as a result. It wasn’t a life-threatening situation, but it was extremely unpleasant for Katie and Paul, and they were stuck. He explained that her aunt needed to go over and bring her back, and Kate wasn’t able to travel alone and needed medical attention as soon as possible in the States. He didn’t know if it was true but hoped it would work as a compelling reason to get a visa immediately. He also explained that Katie’s traveling companion was her Iranian boyfriend, who held American citizenship as well, and had parents in New York, who were also citizens. So this wasn’t a romance that Katie had gotten involved with in Tehran. They had gone over for a visit to his family, and then Katie had gotten sick. And now his family was refusing to let him leave.

He knew that Katie wouldn’t have asked for Annie’s help unless she absolutely had to and had no other way out. Otherwise she would have figured it out for herself. She was a very independent girl. And they had no idea how sick she really was, or what she had, which worried him too. And there was nothing more they could do until morning. Annie lay awake all night and sent Katie a text message: “Working on it. Hang in. Be there as soon as I can. love, A.” She had tried to call Paul’s uncle, but the phone didn’t answer, which upset Annie too.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone rang at seven o’clock the next morning. One of Tom’s friends had called the Pakistani ambassador in Washington and told him that this was a personal favor for a major journalist, and they needed two visas for Iran. Tom hadn’t said anything to Annie yet, but he had made up his mind the day before and had asked for two visas instead of one. He wanted to go with her. He knew the area, the country, and the customs, and he knew she would have a hard time alone there. She would do better with a man traveling with her, and he wanted to help. And he had the time.

The ambassador had agreed to give them both visas at nine o’clock that morning. All they had to do was pick them up at the Pakistani consulate in New York, and she could fly out on the next plane to London. They had to follow the same path that Katie and Paul had. The Pakistani ambassador had admitted to the middleman that the last thing anyone would want to deal with was a sick American girl, stuck in Tehran, with one of the most important American journalists begging for help on her behalf. It was a plea for assistance that they couldn’t ignore, it was noninflammatory, nonpolitical, and a situation they wanted to resolve.

When Tom told her he was going with her, Annie looked embarrassed and guilty.

“You can’t just drop everything and leave,” Annie pointed out to Tom. “I can manage on my own.” She was trying to be brave and not take advantage of him or even his connections, except to get her a visa and a flight. But she was deeply grateful for his help.

“Let’s not be stupid,” Tom said firmly. “I was bureau chief in that part of the world for two years. You can’t do this alone. I’m coming with you. I’ll call the network. You call the airline.” He made it seem so simple, and it was certainly easier than trying to work it out alone. “We can pick up the visas on the way to the airport, and be on a noon flight to London, if they have one.” Annie was praying they did. She wanted to get to Tehran as soon as possible. She had no idea how sick Katie was.

Tom called the network and told them he needed a personal leave of absence for three or four days, and Annie booked two seats on a one o’clock flight to London. She called her office after that and then she called Ted and told him what was going on. He was upset to hear it, and hopeful that Katie wasn’t too sick, which was Annie’s hope as well. Paul’s mother called at that point. She had spoken to her sister-in-law, who said that Katie had had a high fever and severe dysentery, but she was better. And Jelveh had said they were keeping Paul with them because he should be in Iran, not the States. She said they were trying to make up for his parents’ failures, which upset Paul’s mother even more. She was crying when she told Annie that they refused to let Paul leave.

After that Annie packed a small bag that she could carry on the plane. She put in several scarves for her head. And an hour later they were on their way to the Pakistani consulate. Paul’s father had called and given Tom all the details about where to find them. He had also given Tom both of Paul’s passport numbers, and his brother’s phone numbers again, where Paul and Katie were staying. They had everything they needed. There was nothing more that Tom and Annie could do now, except get there and find out how things really were. They were both sure that Katie would never have contacted Annie if she could have handled things herself. And Annie was infinitely grateful that Tom had come to help.

It was a long, agonizing flight to London, followed by a longer one to Tehran. The two of them spoke quietly and tried to guess what was going on. They were both worried that Paul’s family might have discovered that Katie was more than just a friend, and that they were involved in a serious romance. Annie was worried too that while she was on the plane, she couldn’t get text messages from Kate, since her phone was turned off. She tried not to panic on the two flights. And there was no text message while they waited in Heathrow before boarding the flight to Tehran. Annie had sent a text that said, “We’re on our way. I love you. A.” And there still was no response.

They were fingerprinted at immigration at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran, like everyone else, and they cleared customs easily. Tom had booked two rooms at a hotel. He had assumed they might be there for several days and had organized everything for them. He had even booked a room for Katie, just in case.

He was thinking about going to the police, but he didn’t want to make things worse, and they had no legitimate claim to help Paul. His uncle had the right to keep his passport. And as soon as they cleared customs, they took a cab to the address that Paul’s father had given them. They had no idea what they’d find there, nor what the attitude of Paul’s family would be toward them, hostile or friendly. Clearly, something was wrong, since Paul couldn’t leave Tehran. And Annie was increasingly worried that there had been no further messages from Kate. She was terrified that she might be sicker than they said. What if she had something potentially fatal like meningitis? Or had already succumbed? Tears sprang to her eyes every time the thought came to her mind.

When Katie had turned her BlackBerry on again, the battery was dead. She didn’t know that Annie was on her way. And she lay in her bed, thinking about their situation, with Paul without a passport, and no ability to leave Iran.

Jelveh was still taking care of her and being motherly and kind, offering her tea, and small meals and rice, and herbs that she said would help her and give her strength, and Katie was feeling better. But she had no idea how to get Paul out of Tehran and back to the States, and neither did he. He came to her room constantly to check on her. And she told him there had been no further word from her aunt, since her own phone was now dead.

As Katie rested in her room, she heard the adhan that came right after sunset, as the muezzin called out the prayer. The adhan was a familiar sound now, since she’d arrived. She heard the last one of the day two hours later. Whenever Katie saw Paul, when he came to visit her, he looked seriously depressed. He was trapped.

It took Tom and Annie an hour and a half to get to the house from the airport. The traffic was terrible, and Annie looked tense as she sat in the backseat with Tom, wearing one of the scarves she’d brought with her. She had put it on in the plane before they landed, when the flight attendant gently reminded her to do so. All she could do was pray that Katie was okay and hadn’t caught anything too serious or even fatal. She hoped they hadn’t let her get dehydrated from the fever. She was worried sick about her.

The cab stopped finally in front of a large rambling house, and both of them got out. Annie wasn’t even jet-lagged, she was so wound up, and she hadn’t slept for the entire trip. Tom whispered to her as they got out of the taxi and reminded her to appear calm, patient, and strong, and not accuse them of anything, no matter how upset she was about Katie and Paul. Tom wanted to move with caution, and be as friendly and civil as possible until they knew what was going on.

Tom rang the bell, and a servant opened the door. He asked for Paul’s uncle by name in a clear voice that exuded confidence and strength. It took a few minutes, and then Jelveh came to the door to greet them, looking gentle and sympathetic.

“I’m Annie Ferguson,” Annie introduced herself. “I’m Katie’s aunt, and I’ve come for my niece,” Annie said, looking her right in the eye with a stern expression. But she met no hostility from Jelveh, who smiled at her. “She sent me a message that she’s sick,” Annie said, backing down a little. She turned to Tom then. “And this is Tom Jefferson. He’s an American journalist. I’d like to see Paul and Kate.” She wanted to see them immediately, but Jelveh appeared to be in no hurry. It had been almost two days since Annie had gotten Kate’s text. She was so jangled, all she could do was pray she was still alive. If it was meningitis, she might not be. The thought made Annie shiver.

“Of course.” Jelveh smiled at her. “She has told me all about you.” And then, she asked them to wait for a moment. She disappeared and her husband came back to the door instead. He looked at the two Americans, nodded, and invited them inside. He took them into the living room and asked if they would like something to drink. He was extremely polite and seemed hospitable, and looked just like Paul’s father, and Annie wanted to scream at them to take her to the two young people, but she remembered Tom’s warning to be civil, calm, and patient. She was on their turf, on their terms.

“Your brother said you would help me,” Annie said directly to him, wanting him to hurry, but he wouldn’t. They had declined the offer of anything to drink. “I know my niece has been sick and I’m sure you’ve been very kind to her. But I was told that you took Paul’s passport. His parents are very upset about it. I expect you to let both of them leave with me,” she said firmly, hoping to convince him without a fight.

“Paul and Katie are both here,” he said calmly. “And your niece is improving daily. She caught a very bad virus of some kind, but she’s much better now. My wife has been taking care of her, and of course we will return her to you. We only kept her passport for safekeeping so she wouldn’t lose it.” Annie didn’t comment but doubted that was true. “My nephew is a different story. This is his home, his heritage. He belongs here, not in New York. It was foolish and wrong of my brother to move away and leave Iran years ago. His son needs to be here, with our family. Paul will have a better life here. We want him to stay.” Annie and Tom’s hearts sank at the words. They could both tell that Paul’s uncle was sincere and truly believed he was doing the right thing for him. It wasn’t malicious or malevolent, only misguided, particularly since Paul had a life and parents in New York. But his uncle looked totally convinced of what he’d said. They didn’t argue with him, and all Annie wanted now was to see Kate.

“Where’s Katie?” Annie asked quietly. She wanted to see Kate immediately, but she wanted to get Paul out too.

“She’s upstairs in her room.” He looked anxious about Tom as he said it. He had the sense that Tom was an important person, possibly even a dangerous one, and he wasn’t wrong. Tom was watching the scene in minute detail and hadn’t spoken yet.

“Is she alive?” Annie asked with a look of terror. What if she had died while they were on the plane? Meningitis was her greatest fear, as it killed young people so quickly. But surely the uncle would have told her when they arrived if she was dead. Fear was clouding Annie’s mind and jangling her nerves. They had said she was better, but was it true?

“Of course she’s alive,” he reassured her instantly.

“I want to see her,” Annie said, fighting back tears of exhaustion and relief, and Tom stepped in. It was a tense scene. And Tom was wondering if there was more to the story than Katie had said in her brief text. Maybe they had figured out the romance between Paul and Kate and were upset and wanted to end it by keeping him in Iran.

“Have they committed a crime?” Tom asked bluntly.

“Not publicly, certainly,” he reassured them, although his wife had told him that they were more than just “friends” as soon as she had discovered that herself. She kept no secrets from her husband. “Although they seem to be closer to each other than they admitted when they arrived. For a Muslim man involved with a Western woman of another faith, the punishment can be very serious here.” Annie felt faint as she heard his words, and she squeezed Tom’s hand. “For that reason, Paul was wrong to bring Katie here and pretend that they were friends. But they’re foolish and young.” He smiled at them both. “But an alliance between them would not be wise. For that reason also Paul should stay here. There will be no further danger when Katie leaves. I returned her passport, credit card, and traveler’s checks to her. She is free to go. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” Annie and Tom looked immensely relieved by what he’d said. He had no reason to keep Katie there, nor did he want to. She was not a hostage, she was a guest, and they had treated her as one. “My nephew belongs here in his own country. He will not be leaving with Kate.”

Tom looked angry when he said it. “That’s a terrible thing to do to your brother and his wife. Paul is their only child,” he reminded him. “It would break their hearts.”

“Perhaps it will convince them to return,” he said softly. It was his fondest hope.

“That’s not realistic, and you know it. They have a life there now, and a business. It would not be easy for them to come back.” Paul’s uncle nodded. “And I’m prepared to make an enormous fuss if you don’t turn both young people over to me now, with both of Paul’s passports. His parents want him back in New York and have asked me to bring him.” It was a show of bravado but their only hope. Paul’s uncle had every right to refuse Tom.

“I’m not sure he even wants to leave. He has strong ties to his homeland, and to us. To my wife and me, his cousins, his grandfather.” His parents meant more to him, but Tom didn’t say it. And Paul’s uncle stood up. “I will take you to Kate,” he said warmly, as though they were honored guests, and so was Kate.

A moment later all three of them were upstairs, and Paul’s uncle knocked and opened the door. They saw Katie sitting up in bed, with Paul in a chair beside her. They were talking quietly and looking worried, and they looked stunned when Tom and Annie walked into the room. She had asked for Annie’s help but didn’t expect her to come. Katie let out a yell and leaped into her aunt’s arms, as Paul smiled gratefully at Tom, who met his uncle’s eyes with a look of ice.

“I want his passports now too,” Tom said clearly. “Now. You can’t keep him here against his will. I’m a journalist, and I’m prepared to see this through.” There was a long, long hesitation, and then Paul’s uncle left the room without a word. He was back five minutes later, with both of Paul’s passports in his hand. He wanted him to stay, but he didn’t want to cause his country embarrassment if Tom was going to create a scandal in the press, and he looked like he would. His love and respect for his country were greater than his desire to force his nephew to stay. The battle for Paul had been lost. And won by Tom. Paul’s uncle handed him Paul’s passports without a word, and with a look of sadness and defeat.

“Thank you,” Tom said quietly, took them, and slipped them into his jacket pocket, as the young people watched the scene in awe.

Tom told them both to pack immediately. He didn’t want to give Paul’s uncle time to change his mind. Annie stayed to help Katie, and Paul went to his room to get his things. Tom had the passports and would not let them out of his possession now. Paul’s freedom was in his hands.

Ten minutes later they were both downstairs with their bags. Katie looked shaky and wan and very pale. Jelveh had come into the hall by then, and she and her husband both looked grief stricken that their nephew was leaving. Paul’s grandfather was out, so he couldn’t say goodbye to him. And his cousins were in school. The girls had been sent to their rooms and did not emerge. Paul was not going to have a chance to say goodbye to anyone and looked sad.

Annie thanked them both for taking care of Kate, and so did Katie, and Jelveh was crying as she looked at Paul. She knew she would not see him again, and she hugged him as they left. His uncle had tears in his eyes as he turned away and refused to say goodbye, as the four Americans left the house. And Tom was touched to see that Paul was crying too when he got into the cab. He was thinking of the grandfather he would never see again. He looked longingly back at his uncle’s house as they drove away. He was truly torn between his two cultures and two lives. He loved it here, and he loved his family. It had meant a lot to him to come back, and in some ways he would have liked to stay. But he knew he couldn’t. It would kill his parents if he did. And Katie saw the agony on his face too. He was torn between his two worlds, and the people he loved in both. And whichever life he chose, he would be betraying the people who loved him on the other side of that decision.

He cried silently all the way back to the hotel. And no one said a word in the cab. The scene of his visible suffering was too poignant and too hard. Tom almost wondered if he had done the right thing by forcing his uncle’s hand and making Paul leave with them. Maybe he wanted to stay. But Paul followed them into the hotel when they arrived. And he thanked Tom for helping him get his passports back and rescuing them both. Katie had really needed to go home, and she still didn’t look or feel well, although she was better now. And although he hated leaving Tehran, he wanted to go back to his parents in New York and was grateful for Tom’s help.

The hotel booked them on a flight to London three hours later. They didn’t want to stay any longer. Tom and Annie’s bags had gone to the hotel when they arrived. They had just enough time to collect them, leave again, and return to the airport. It had all gone much more smoothly than Annie and Tom had expected, because Paul’s uncle had been reasonable. Annie was haunted now by the devastated look on Paul’s uncle’s face. They clearly loved Paul and would have liked him to stay. But his parents in New York would have been even more devastated if he had.

They called Paul’s parents from the airport, and they were immensely relieved that he was coming home, and grateful that Tom had helped him. They knew that Paul might not have been able to get out otherwise on his own, and his uncle was a daunting figure for a boy his age. It would have been hard to prevail against him, and even Tom barely had. And they had played on Paul’s uncle’s love for his country and loyalty to Iran, not to create a public scandal in the press by refusing to let Paul leave.

Katie and Paul said nothing to each other on the flight to London. They were both looking pensive and shaken, and as the plane took off from Tehran, Paul sat staring at the city that he loved and was so sad to leave. And after a while they both fell asleep, without saying a word. Annie covered them both with blankets and then went back to her seat and kissed Tom and thanked him again. It had been a strange odyssey, for all of them.

They were all exhausted during the brief layover in London. Katie still looked sick, and they all looked emotionally drained. This time on the flight to New York, they watched movies and ate dinner, and Paul and Katie chatted quietly for a while. It was the first time that Katie realized how torn Paul was about his two lives. She had wondered before they left Tehran if Paul was going to bolt and stay after all. He clearly felt far more Iranian than she had realized. In truth, he felt both. He had strong feelings of loyalty to both America and Iran, and it was tearing him apart.

His parents were waiting for him at the airport when they arrived, and his mother burst into tears when she saw him, and clung to him for a moment before she turned to thank Tom and Annie. The two young people were looking at each other sadly. Something had happened to them that day. They had been catapulted into adulthood and had seen how different their cultures were and how important to each of them. Katie was entirely American in every way, and Paul had a foot in two worlds. The situation they’d been in had been frightening for both of them, and far more than they could handle on their own. They were both grateful that Tom and Annie had come. And all each of them wanted now was to be with their families, in their own homes.

Katie kissed Paul lightly on the cheek before they left the airport. It was the first time they had kissed since the trip began, and neither of them was sure now if the kiss was hello or goodbye. They both looked sad as they left, and Annie could hear the sound of breaking hearts as they said goodbye.